Extras Cover

Extras cover is health insurance that covers you for everyday ‘non-hospital’ healthcare and medical services and treatments that aren’t covered by Medicare. So that’s things like optical, dental, physio, chiro, and healthy lifestyle services (plus other natural therapies like remedial massage and acupuncture).

What is Extras cover?

Extras insurance is also known as ancillary cover or general treatment. It refers to “ancillary” medical services that aren’t covered by Medicare.

Extras cover gives you health insurance for allied health services like dental, optical and physiotherapy that aren’t covered by Medicare. If you need these services and treatments and don’t have private health cover, you’ll have to pay the full cost out of your own pocket.

With HIF Extras cover, you can take care of your body with preventative care like check-ups and have most (or all) of the cost covered by your HIF health insurance (depending on your level of cover and policy limits). Members with active lifestyles love our health insurance Extras cover because they can access benefits for healthy lifestyle activities, as well as regular visits to their physio, chiro or osteo.

Compare our Extras insurance policies and find one that matches your lifestyle and budget.

Extras health insurance covers a huge range of services and treatments – you can choose the cover that includes the ones that matter most to you. In other words, the services and treatment, as well as the benefits or rebates, will vary depending on your level of cover and annual limits.

Some of our most popular Extras services are physiotherapy, optical, dental, chiropractic, speech therapy and podiatry.

Optical

With our optical cover you have choices. If you hold a current Medicare card, you’re eligible for the Medicare subsidy for eye tests provided by optometrists. Most optometrists bulk bill (meaning you won't need to pay anything up front), otherwise you can make a claim directly from Medicare, which may cover some or all of the charge. 

If you then need glasses or contact lenses, our health insurance Extras cover lets you claim 100% of your annual limit on the optical items you need². Buy and claim for optical products from any registered provider in Australia and enjoy exclusive discounts from retailers and online stores.

Find out more about Optical Cover

Dental

Our Dental cover is designed to encourage and reward regular maintenance of your teeth. So, no matter which Extras option you choose, you can enjoy great benefits, regardless of the provider you choose, for the most popular dental services, including oral examinations, x-rays, scale and cleans, fillings and extractions, plus dentist-fitted sports mouthguards. Also, you can choose your own registered dentist, giving you better coverage and more choice!

Find out more about Dental Cover

Ambulance

Did you know that a trip in an ambulance could cost you over $900? For your peace of mind, we include 100% cover for emergency ambulance rides, with no annual limits on our Value, Simple, Essential, Advanced and Top Extras, so you’re covered when you need it!¹

On Basic Extras, it works a little differently - you’ll receive 100% back for one emergency ambulance service per year.

Find out more about Ambulance Cover

Physiotherapy

Looking for Extras insurance that includes physio? You’re in luck! All of our Extras policies include physiotherapy benefits. Compare the options and choose the policy that has the level of physio cover you need.

Find out more about physiotherapy

Chiropractic

Chiropractic treatment is one of our members’ most-used services, which is why we include chiro benefits on every level of Extras cover. This means you’re covered when you visit the chiro for help with your knees, shoulders, back and more.

Find out more about chiro

Yes, our Extras policies include optical benefits that cover glasses. Our Basic, Value, Simple, Essential, Advanced and Top Extras allow you to choose the level of optical benefits that suit your needs.

Yes, contact lenses are also covered by our Extras insurance benefits. With HIF Extras cover you have the freedom to spend your annual optical limit however you choose, whether it’s frames, glasses or contact lenses.²

Our top level of dental insurance is Top Extras cover. With this Extras policy, you’ll receive higher benefits and annual limits. 

General dental refers to regular dental treatments like exams, cleaning, minor fillings, bleaching and x-rays. Major dental procedures are more complex (for example dentures, crowns and bridges). Our Extras policies have different levels of coverage and benefits for general and major dental treatments.

Read more

Our Essential, Advanced and Top Extras policies all include coverage for orthodontics. You can find out more on our Dental page.

Find out more about Dental Cover

HIF covers 100% of the cost of emergency ambulance transport on our Basic, Value, Simple, Essential, Advanced and Top Extras¹. Emergency transport covers situations that require urgent attention and admission to the emergency department of a hospital. If your call-out is “non-urgent” you’ll still be covered and will only need to make a $50 co-payment.  Basic Extras is a little different, though – non-urgent call-outs aren’t covered and you’ll receive 100% back for one emergency ambulance service per year.

Read more about Ambulance Cover

Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of ambulance transport, although some state governments have subsidies for specific groups. To find out more information on ambulance arrangements for each state check out the government's guide here.

There are two types of health insurance: Extras cover and Hospital cover, and they can be bundled together into a combined cover. Extras cover gives you cover for non-hospital medical treatments that aren’t covered by Medicare, whereas Hospital insurance covers you for treatment as a private patient in a private or public hospital.

Read more about Hospital Cover

We want every HIF member to enjoy a healthy and happy lifestyle. That’s why many of our Extras policies include Healthy Lifestyle Benefits that you can put towards the cost of things like gym memberships, weight management programs, skin cancer screenings and quit smoking programs. Of course, there are annual limits and your  service provider will need to meet certain criteria for you to claim these benefits – find out more here.

Read more about Healthy Lifestyle Cover

Health aids, appliances and external prosthesis such as hearing aids, artificial limbs, CPAP machines and TENS machines are included on Advanced and Top Extras, our top two levels of health cover. To find out if a specific appliance can be claimed under Extras cover, phone us on 1300 134 060.

Whether we’re answering your call, or helping you switch from another health fund, we don’t like to keep people waiting. But unfortunately waiting periods (the time you have to wait before you can claim for treatment) are a necessity. We wouldn't be able to offer our affordable premiums and generous benefits without them.

Waiting periods exist so we can protect our members against people who simply join us, claim large amounts and then leave. But we always try to keep waiting periods to an absolute minimum. That’s why, if you join us from another health fund, we’ll take your previous membership into account, so you won’t have to re-serve waiting periods on an equivalent level or lower level of health cover.

No waiting periods on Extras cover

If you’re with another provider and switch to HIF and take out the same level of cover, any waiting periods you’ve already served will be taken into account and you won’t have to wait to claim with HIF.

Of course, there are some conditions. If you switch to a higher level of Extras health cover with HIF,  a waiting period will apply to the new or improved benefits provided on the higher level of cover, but you’ll still be able to claim straight away for benefits that were covered on your old insurance.

A ‘benefit’ is the amount we pay either per visit towards a service or treatment on your applicable policy. The amount you can claim for different treatments and services will depend on your level of cover.

An 'annual limit' is the maximum amount of benefits payable to a member in a calendar year, commencing January 1 and ending December 31. Most of our annual limits refresh every January, which allows you to claim benefits again for Extras services provided in the new year. 

The Australian Government offers a Private Health Insurance Rebate to help people pay for their private health insurance. It’s intended to reduce the strain on Medicare (our public health care system) whilst making premiums more affordable.

Eligibility for the rebate is determined on a tiered system that is based on your age and taxable income. Claiming the rebate can be done in your annual tax return or we can make it easy for you by deducting it straight from your health insurance premium..

Read more about the Rebate

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